Golf ball warming oven

ABSTRACT

A golf ball warming oven is constructed of a tubular housing surrounded by an insulating cover. The oven is mounted over the exhaust manifold on a gas powered golf cart. For use on electric powered golf carts, the electric resistance coils are wrapped around the housing underneath the insulated cover.

Unite States Patent [191 Collins 1 GOLF BALL WARMING OVEN [76] lnventor:Joseph M. Collins, 31 15 Tawny Oak Dr San Antonio, Tex. 78230 [22]Filed: Mar. 27, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 345,351

[52] US. Cl 219/521, 150/15 C, 150/52 A, 219/385, 219/535, 219/537,221/297, 273/32 [51] Int. Cl. H05b 3/06 [58] Field of Search 219/214,385, 469, 521, 219/535, 537; 150/15 R, 1.5 B, 1.5 C, 52;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,699,048 1/1929 ConnorISO/1.5 C 1,754,495 4/1930 Anderson.....

1,958,956 5/1934 Preston 221/301 X 1 Aug. 6, 1974 2,279,093 4/1942Peters 312/48 3,030,483 4/1962 Rudolph et a1. 219/214 3,091,681 5/1963Mayer 273/52 X 3,186,593 6/1965 Miotke 221/297 3,436,171 4/1969Weichselbaum et a1 219/521 X 3,497,676 2/1970 Gravalt 219/521 3,547,31412/1970 Brandell 221/301 3,683,155 8/1972 Loofbourow 219/521 PrimaryExaminer-Volodymyr Y. Mayewsky Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Donald R.Comuzzi; Ted D. Lee

[ 5 7] ABSTRACT A golf ball warming oven is constructed of a tubularhousing surrounded by an insulating cover. The oven is mounted over theexhaust manifold on a gas powered golf cart. For use on electric poweredgolf carts, the electric resistance coils are wrapped around the housingunderneath the insulated cover.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENIEDM B W 3.828.165

sum 1 or 2 FIG. 4

PAIENIEM 51974 SHEU 2 [IF 2 F lG."5

FIG. 6

GOLF BALL WARMING OVEN BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of Use Thisinvention relates to the heating of golf balls for the purpose ofincreasing the travel of the golf ball. It is known to those versed inthe golfing art that golf balls will travel further if warmed toapproximately l()F. Golf balls which have been warmed sufficiently willtravel much further than a golf ball at ambient temperature.

2. Description of the Prior Art Many prior art devices have beenemployed for the purpose of warming golf balls, such as the onedisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,497,676 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,155. Othermethods employed by golfers for increasing the temperature of golf ballshas included soaking the balls in warm water, retaining the balls inhand warmers and storing the balls in warming ovens in the home. Theseprior art methods have met with varying degrees of success, however,none have considered the needs of the modern golfer, who in many cases,finds it advantageous to use a powered golf cart.

Certain of the prior art devices such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.3,683,155 accomplishes the initial task of warming the golf ball to-aproper temperature over an extended period of time, however, it does notmaintain the temperature of the golf ball on the golf course. As isoften the case, golfers may spend many hours on the golf course and itis during this long period of play that a previously warmed golf ballmust be maintained at the proper temperature if the benefits from thewarming process are to be fully appreciated. Several prior art deviceshave attempted to accomplish this purpose by use of battery poweredlightweight portable units carried on the person such as the devicedisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,497,676. However, these prior art deviceshave not attempted to combine a golf ball warming device with theavailable energy source already present in gasoline and electricallypowered golf carts which are in abundant use today.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore the purpose of this inventionto provide a golf ball warmer that can either be used for the initialwarming of the golf ball or for the purpose of maintaining thetemperature during play of a golf ball that has been previously warmedat home. More particularly, it is the primary purpose of this inventionto provide a golf ball warmer that is attached to a powered golf cartand which utilizes heat generated by the already existing power sourceutilized by the golf cart. It is a further object of this invention toprovide a golf ball warming apparatus that is easily adaptable for usein both electrically powered and gasoline powered golf carts. It is ofcourse a further object to provide an apparatus that is economical toconstruct and install and which is readily accessible for use by thegolfer.

The invention consists of a golf ball warming oven attached to the bodyportion of a golf cart and positioned in close proximity to the exhaustmanifold of a gasoline driven golf cart. Proper insulation is providedto prevent becoming overheated. When the golf ball warming oven is to beemployed in an electrically driven battery operated golf cart, thewarming oven is attached to the body portion of the vehicle and heatingcoils are attached to the warming oven for delivering heat to the ovenfrom the electrical source.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing detailed description read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective viewof a golf cart depicting the preferred embodiment of the golf ballwarming oven of this invention mounted therein.

FIG. 2 is a perspective partly exploded view of the golf ball warmer ofthis invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the golf ball warming oven of this inventionmounted over the exhaust manifold of a gasoline powered golf cart.

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of the golf ball warming oven mountedin an electric powered golf cart, partly cut away to depict theresistance heating coils and showing a modified construction fordischarging through the side of the vehicle body.

FIG. 5 is a vertical section through a portion of the warming oven ofFIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4 depicting a further modification ofthe warming oven.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferred embodiment of theinvention consists of a housing consisting of tubular housing sections 2and 3 closed at their one ends by end walls 4 and 5 respectively. Thetubular sections are preferably circular in cross section with an insidediameter only slightly larger than the diameter of a golf ball. Thetubular sections are connected'together at their closed ends with a pin7 extending through aligned holes in hanger brackets 8 and 9 fastenedaround the tubular sections 2 and 3 and which are positioned on eitherside of a mounting bracket 11 connected to the vehicle body by suitablefastening means such as nut and bolt 12.

The tubular sections 2 and 3 are open at their opposite ends and extendthrough suitable openings in the vehicle body, it being understood thatthe location of the opening is a matter of choice to be determined bythe location of the exhaust manifold in the one case or the electricalpower source in the other case. In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 the tubularsections are depicted as being bent to exit through the front wall underthe front seats, however it is to be understood that the tubularsections may be straight and extend through the side wall as indicatedin FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.

The tubular sections are provided with additional hanger brackets 13 and14 mounted on the tubular sections near the exit end of the tubularsections. The hanger brackets 13 and 14 are connected to mountingbrackets 15 and 16 respectively by means of nut and bolt means 22 and 23which extend through aligned holes in the hanger brackets and theirrespective mounting bracket.

This is the preferred means of connecting the tubular housing sections 2and 3 to the vehicle body, however it is to be understood that othermeansmay be employed. The arrangement just described will enable thetubular sections to be pivoted about the pin 7 to align the sectionswith the opening in the vehicle body and adjust the slope of theforwardly extending bent portion of the FIG. 3 modification and the nutand'bolt means can then be tightened to hold the sections in the desiredposition thus making the attachment of the golf ball warming oven a verysimple task.

The vertical positioning of the end mounting brackets and 16 relative tothe center mounting bracket 11 will adjust the slope of the flow line ofthe tubular sections so that the golf balls will roll toward the openend of the tubular sections.

The open ends of the tubular sections are provided with closure caps 18and 19. In the preferred embodiment, locking tabs 25 and 26 are fastenednear the open end of the tubular section 2 and 3. The closure caps 18and 19 are each provided with locking slots 27 and 28 to engage the tabsfor locking the caps in known manner.

The closure caps 18 and 19 may be provided with insert plugs 29 and 30respectively. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the insert plug consists of atubular section having an outside diameter smaller than the inside diameter of the tubular housing section 2. The tubular plug section isconnected inside the closure cap 18 and extends therefrom for insertioninto the tubular housing section in the manner depicted. A closure plate31 closes the end of the tubular plug section to prevent balls fromentering the inside of the plug. Of course the plug could be of adiameter smaller than the diameter of a golf ball and thereby eliminatethe need for closure plate 31. However, I prefer to employ a largerdiameter plug section which can then be cut away to provide a scoopportion 32 as depicted in FIG. 2.

The length of the insert plug will be determined by the particular typeof vehicle and must be long enough to push the golf balls into thewarming zone of the oven. The scoop 32 facilitates insertion and removalof the balls from the warming oven.

The tubular housing sections 2 and 3 are constructed of suitablematerials such as metal tubing. An insulating cover 34 of suitable heatinsulating material covers the major portion of the metal tubingsections. The exact thickness of the insulating cover is determinedaccording to the insulating characteristics of the particular materialand the type of heat source which is used.

The modification of FIG. 3 discloses a warming oven designed for use ina gas powered vehicle. The tubular housing sections 2 and 3 arepositioned over the exhaust manifold 41 and in contiguous relationthereto, the longitudinal axis of the tubular sections beingsubstantially aligned with the axis of the exhaust manifold. The heatinsulating cover 34 insulates the oven against overheating from themanifold. The oven temperature is maintained at the desired temperatureby selecting the proper thickness of heat insulating material inaccordance with the particular manifold temperature.

FIG. 4 depicts a golf ball warming oven modified for use on anelectrically powered vehicle. The only structural difference between themodification of FIG. 4 and the modification of FIG. 3 is the addition ofresistance heating coils 51 encircling the tubular sections 2 and 3. Allother components are identical and are identified by like numerals. Theresistance coils are wrapped around the tubular sections underneath theinsulating cover 34 and may be held in place thereby. The resistancecoils 51 are connected via electrical conduit 52 in known manner to theelectrical power source such as a battery B. The insulating coverretains the heat of the coils adjacent the tubular housing sectionsthereby reducing the amount of heat required to maintain the desiredtemperature in the warming oven. The thickness of the insulating coveris determined in accordance with the amount of heat delivered by theparticular coil arrangement. Of course the insulation serves to retainheat adjacent the tubular housing sections in the modification of FIG.4' whereas it serves just the opposite purpose in the FIG. 3modification.

The warming oven has been described thus far as comprising two tubularhousing sections, however, an alternate form of housing for the warmingoven is shown in FIG. 6 in which a single tubular housing section has apin 55 extending through the tubular housing section 60 to divide thetubular housing section into two separate warming compartments. The pin55 may be held in place by means of cotter keys 56. The section 60 isbent at its mid-point to provide a proper flow line from the mid-pointtoward the exit opening of the tubular housing section. All otherfeatures of the oven remain unchanged from that previously describedwith reference to the two section oven.

While I have chosen in my preferred embodiment to use round tubularsections for ease of fabrication and economy, this is by no meansintended to limit the invention to a particular shape since any numberof housing configurations could be used.

Having now disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention, what Iclaim is:

l. A golf ball warming oven for warming golf balls before use, said ovencomprises;

a. an elongated housing,

b. structure means for separating said housing into a pair of elongatedtubular sections, said sections being substantially circular in crosssection and having an internal diameter slightly larger than thediameter of a golf ball,

c. a source of power,

d. mounting means for mounting said housing with each tubular sectionsloping downwardly from said separating means for delivering golf ballstherein to the respective lower ends of said tubular sections,

e. removable cap means at the lower end of each tubular section,

f. heating means for heating said tubular sections from the powersource, and

g. thermal insulating means for said tubular sections.

2. The golf ball warming oven of claim 1 in which the power sourceincludes a battery,

said heating means includes resistance heating coils about said tubularsections and in communication with said battery, and

said insulating means includes insulating covers surrounding saidresistance heating coils.

3. The golf ball warming oven of claim 1 in which said separating meansincludes a transverse pin in said elongated housing.

4. The golf ball warming oven of claim 1 in which said separating meansincludes a closed end in each of the adjacent ends of the tubularsections.

5. The golf ball warming oven of claim 1 in which the removable capmeans includes at least one insertable plug insertable in a tubularsection.

6. The golf ball warming oven of claim 5 in which said insertable plugis cut away to form a scoop for receiving golf balls.

1. A golf ball warming oven for warming golf balls before use, said ovencomprises; a. an elongated housing, b. structure means for separatingsaid housing into a pair of elongated tubular sections, said sectionsbeing substantially circular in cross section and having an internaldiameter slightly larger than the diameter of a golf ball, c. a sourceof power, d. mounting means for mounting said housing with each tubularsection sloping downwardly from said separating means for deliveringgolf balls therein to the respective lower ends of said tubularsections, e. removable cap means at the lower end of each tubularsection, f. heating means for heating said tubular sections from thepower source, and g. thermal insulating means for said tubular sections.2. The golf ball warming oven of claim 1 in which the power sourceincludes a battery, said heating means includes resistance heating coilsabout said tubular sections and in communication with said battery, andsaid insulating means includes insulating covers surrounding saidresistance heating coils.
 3. The golf ball warming oven of claim 1 inwhich said separating means includes a transverse pin in said elongatedhousing.
 4. The golf ball warming oven of claim 1 in which saidseparating means includes a closed end in each of the adjacent ends ofthe tubular sections.
 5. The golf ball warming oven of claim 1 in whichthe removable cap means includes at least one insertable plug insertablein a tubular section.
 6. The golf ball warming oven of claim 5 in whichsaid insertable plug is cut away to form a scoop for receiving golfballs.